Why is my Maltese dog coughing, shaking, and lethargic after activity?

With kennel cough, sudden onset of a severe cough is typically seen, which may be productive or non-productive. A productive cough sounds wet and produces mucus, while a non-productive cough is dry and does not produce any mucus. This cough can sound like a honk. Gagging, retching, sneezing, and nasal discharge may also be seen. When a dog with kennel cough has their throat palpated, the dog can be induced to cough. The cough can also be exacerbated by exercise, excitement, or pressure on the neck from their collar. With heart disease, you see a cough that is produced after or during exercise, as well as exercise intolerance. A dog cannot seem to play like they used to in the past. This cough will progress and get worse over time, happening when they are resting as well. You can see episodes of syncope, when a dog suddenly faints.

There is no way of knowing how long this may have been developing but it is quite likely the condition developed in line with the worsening cough and breathless signs. Tracheal disease is common in this breed also and it is not unusual for both conditions to develop in the same dog, weakness and coughing at rest is generally considered indicative of a worsening heart condition which requires ongoing medical management to reduce symptoms and delay progression

Hello! A cough like the one you're describing in a little dog like Lace, I'd be worried about a collapsing trachea or congestive heart failure - both conditions are very common in little dogs and can cause dramatic coughs. Other possibilities would be kennel cough, pneumonia, allergies, and parasites. Hairballs are pretty uncommon in dogs, though bronchitis is possible if this were an allergic issue - but allergic coughs usually start at a younger age. With such dramatic onset, I definitely recommend having Lace seen by a vet, and anticipate they'll take chest x-rays to evaluate what's going on with her heart and lungs. Hope this helps.

These are alarming symptoms indeed. For an older dog with coughing and lethargy, my top suspicions would be: heart disease, heartworm disease (if he is not current on heartworm prevention) primary lung cancer, pneumonia or a heart based tumor. He is at risk for all of these based on his breed. I would highly recommend taking him in to your vet for bloodwork analysis and chest radiographs to properly diagnose him based on the many possible causes stated above. Poor guy. He sounds very unstable for now and the quicker you can get him in to a vet the better. I hope that this is something you can treat for, but the odds of it being something major are high in an older large breed dog. I send you all my best in getting Casper well again. Take care and best wishes.

Poor baby. With heart disease, their heart will sometime get larger and push up on their trachea and that will make them cough. You unfortunately cannot fix this. I would recommend to have your vet do some chest X-rays to see if this could be the cause of her coughing. Your vet will also be able to look at her lungs to see if she has any fluid in her lungs. If so, then she may need to be put on a diuretic to help with her coughing. I hope this helps!

A cough can be caused by respiratory issues including lower airway disease or upper airway disease like a collapsing trachea. It can also be a sign of heart disease. Teddie needs to be assessed by a veterinarian to determine the cause of the cough and for recommendations to be made about what could benefit him from a medical perspective. They may want to perform x-rays to assess his heart and lungs.

I think it may be time to consider a specialist. I'm not sure if the vet has done a recent x-ray of Mumchie's chest, but I would be concerned his symptoms could be due to heart disease. That can be common in older dogs. Seeing a specialist may give you some answers. Best of luck.